When It All Falls Apart
by Cendrillion
Summary: At some point in life, everyone's struck with news that could make them or break them. When Hyde comes into contact with news about Jackie that could make him or break him, will their relationship crumble and will Jackie live to tell the tale?
1. Chapter 1

"Ahh!" Fez exclaimed in anguish, throwing his arms up in the air in anger. "I am stuck _again_!"

A stupidly grinning Kelso nodded in excitement, looking over at his clearly upset friend. Moving his own blue Candy Land piece, he stuck his tongue out at Fez in a childish manner. "Haha, I'm safe!" the quite obviously brain dead Kelso burst, pumping a fist into the air.

"Oh shut up, you son of a bitch," Fez shot back in a grumpy voice, folding his arms over his chest angrily. "This stupid game hates me. I _always_ land there. Plus, Eric started hiding his money in the Chutes and Ladders box, so there is no point in playing this game."

Eric's head shot up as the mention of his secret stash came up, and I grinned. "Hey! How the hell did you know about that?" Eric demanded, staring at Fez in astonishment. Poor, scrawny little thing thinks he actually managed to keep his secret stash hidden. Ha.

"Foreman, we all know about your obsession with hiding your pathetic excuse for cash in elementary school board game boxes," I said with a shrug, looking at him in amusement before turning my gaze back to the T.V. screen—The Price is Right.

"Jackie! Oh my, it's my sexy love machine!" Fez said excitedly as the brown-haired beauty opened the door, beaming—though I could tell by her slightly wide eyes that something was up. Looking at Fez with narrowed eyes, I swung my leg out and knocked him in the shin, listening to him release a gasp of irritation.

"You son of a bitch."

Shrugging, I wrapped my arms around Jackie's waist as she slowly came over and deposited herself on my lap. Arching an eyebrow as she moved her head close to my ear, I frowned as I heard a "Can I talk to you? Upstairs?" breathed into my air. Jackie stood expectantly as she made her way towards the bottom of the stairs, and I soon followed, Fez and Kelso's eyes burning into the back of my head.

"Okay Jacks, what's this all about?"

The last time she'd wanted to talk to me alone we'd ended up in a fight on whether or not I loved her, which ended up in increasing embarrassment on my part and tears on her part. I sat down at the kitchen table, watching her intently as she sat down across from me.

Brushing a perfectly curled lock from her green-gray eyes, she looked down at the table nervously before fixing her quiet eyes on me.

"Steven… I have cancer. Breast cancer."

She'd caught me off guard, and my head shot up sharply. She wasn't serious… was she? Peering at her curiously from behind my sunglasses, I fought down the urge to jump up and grab a beer from the fridge—an action that seemed to be my answer to everything. "What?"

"I have cancer," Jackie told me quietly, her eyes downcast and devoid of all her previous energy and spark. She sounded so… _serious_. That wasn't like her. She was usually the female version of Kelso—well, a _little_ smarter, I suppose.

"Oh," was all I managed to say. She had seemed less energetic—less feisty and stubborn. I knew something was wrong when she turned a trip to the mall repeatedly over the past few days, but _this_? "Are you going to be okay?"

"I… don't know."

The dejected tone in her voice scared the hell out of me, and I silently thanked god that I'd picked up the habit of wearing these stupid sunglasses—it hid any emotion my eyes held. I avoided her gaze, her weary and unusually helpless gaze, and instead stared steadily at the ground. I didn't want to display any weakness in front in front Jackie—I was Steven Hyde, the incredibly scruffy orphan boy. But as I felt her small and smooth hand reach over the table to entwine itself with my own callused one, I raised my eyes. As I took in the faintly concealed fear in her eyes and the down-turned corners pretty little lips, I realized just how much she must hurting. She took pain well.

"Oh," I said again, quieter this time. My small Zen cheerleader had cancer. Dammit. No wonder she'd suddenly quit her precious cheerleading squad. "Do you want to go back down?" I asked slowly, glancing around the Foreman kitchen, wary of intruding bodies.

"Sure," she replied, more perky and bright—more like the Jackie I knew. She stood, tossing a black curl over her shoulder with a large smile, starting towards the door. "You coming?" Turning to face me with one hand on the door, she slipped through at my slow nod.

I stood there, in the middle of the kitchen, at a loss for words; numb.

Mrs. Foreman couldn't have better timing.

"Mrs. Foreman—can I talk to you?" I asked quickly, with no emotion. I'd always hated asking for help—me and my damn pride… but I needed to talk to _someone_. Even I couldn't take a blow that hard without getting the anger out in the open.

Mrs. Foreman gazed at me with a raised eyebrow for a few moments of silence, before a small smile creased her face. Wiping her hands on the apron that hung from around her plump waist, she sat down at the small table, motioning the chair across from her. Folding her hands placidly on the table, she looked at me with an expectant smile. "Sure Steven. What is it?"

"Say you knew someone who was… very close to you… and she was sick. Really sick. And you wanted to help her, but you didn't know how?"

Mrs. Foreman released a soft sigh, her eyes lighting up in immediate understanding, her smile gentle. "This is about Jackie, isn't it Steven?"

Nodding slowly, I quirked a questioning eyebrow, as if asking her if I was really that easy to read—I'd always liked to believe I was intensely complicated and extremely hard to crack.

"Steven, honey, I'm a nurse. She was at the doctor's a few weeks ago." Smiling still, she folded her hands in her lap now, slowly continuing. "I'd just treat her normally, honey. No extra special treatment, no extremely gentle voice. People like Jackie, despite their sickness, won't appreciate you being quiet and different around them. They're pride-ridden. She won't want things to change Steven. So don't change them, okay?"

I stared blankly at the woman in front of me for a few silent moments before I nodded slowly in slight understanding. Not that I would've treated Jackie any different to begin with, but it was good to hear some sort of direction from the woman I considered the closest thing I ever had to a mother. She watched me with a twisted mouth somewhere between a frown and a smile before she stood slowly.

"Was that all you needed, Steven?" Mrs. Foreman asked as she made her way towards the wooden cabinets, her eyes lingering on me before she examined the cans in the cabinet on the far left with a scrutinizing gaze.

Nodding, I pushed my chair back from the table and stood, frowning as I walked towards the door towards that would lead towards the basement. "Thanks," I muttered gruffly, looking back at Mrs. Foreman before pushing the door open and allowing myself to step onto the wooden stairs.

**Author's Note: I know this chapter seems incredibly out of character for Hyde, and I'm sorry, but he's just sort of shocked. He's not like himself. It'll get better, I promise.**


	2. Chapter 2

I walked down the stairs right as Fez was in the middle of some sort of fit over still being stuck in some sort of marshmallow pit, while Kelso was laughing and screaming his victory. Rolling my eyes at the stupidity of the scene, I looked over at Jackie with the tiniest of smiles as she stood from my chair, allowing me to sit down before plopping herself down on my lap. I watched Eric for a few silent moments (he was busy doing something involving Lego's and a picture of Darth Vader) before looking at Jackie.

"Did you tell them yet?" I asked her in a hushed voice so as no one could hear me—not like anyone would be able to hear over Fez's fit, anyway.

She looked at me silently, searching my face quietly before slowly shaking her head in a silent 'no'. Letting loose a heavy sigh, I frowned the trademark Hyde frown as I tightened my arm around her waist.

"Why not?" I watched her eyes drift to a childish looking Kelso and a near tears Fez, then to Eric—who was muttering to himself as he continued to sculpt a Darth Vader look-a-like from the Lego's... he'd probably end up taking it to his room and having some stupid mock Star Wars fight with the dumb statue-like thing.

"Because. Just because, Steven."

I looked at her in disbelief—why would she keep something this serious from her friends? Well, if they were stupid enough not to have figured it out _yet_ (come on, you lack wits. Even _I_ figured this out ahead of time), I wasn't going to tell them. "Have you at least told Donna?"

"Not yet," Jackie replied, looking over at Kelso and Fez, deliberately avoiding my eyes and clearly stating she had nothing more to say on the matter. Damn—she always won. That was how it worked. She always won our stupid little fights. Why? Because she was hot as hell and I couldn't find it in myself to deny her anything... well... except marriage. _That _was one thing I could _easily_ deny Jackie.

Right as I was about to open my mouth to ask her what she was playing at, Jackie and I looked over at the door, where an out of breath and excited Donna stood, clutching some sort of paper in her hand.

"Guess… guess… guess what!" the red-head burst, looking wildly from one person to another, clearly not registering that Fez was still whining about losing Candy Land. Without waiting for anyone to answer in a sarcastic manner (smart little bitch, because I was just about to remark), she opened her mouth to speak. "I just scored tickets to Disney World!"

Oh, whoop-dee-doo. Disney World. Thrilling.

Jackie's eyes widened in an equally excited manner as she moved to get up from my lap and raced over to Donna's side. "Oh my god, Donna! How many tickets did you get?" she burst, frantically attempting to rip the plane tickets from her friend's hand.

"Enough for all of us. Dad paid for mine, but there was this contest at the radio station, and I won!"

Crap. Now I'd have to go to Disney World with Jackie. She'd probably make me wear those stupid little Mickey Mouse ears and force a stuffed Mickey into my unwilling arms. Crap.

Crossing my arms over my chest in a quite un-thrilled way, I watched Fez immediately perk up at the news.

"Oooh! Disney World! Is that the place with the princesses?" he asked quickly, straightening as he shifted his position on the couch.

Jackie nodded, and Fez clamped his hands over his mouth. "Oh my! Do you think any of them will be desperate enough to do it with me?"

Donna shook her head in amusement, staring at Fez strangely. "Fez, these girls are… never mind." She grinned and shook her head again as Fez clapped his hands with a goofy grin, clearly highly excited for the chance to seduce the pathetic high school drop-outs that played the Disney princesses.

"You know who I always thought I'd be gorgeous as…?" Jackie said dreamily, a hand reaching up to wind a stray hair around and around her finger.

"Oooh! Who?" Fez asked intently, looking at Jackie. Attempting to picture her as one of them, he tilted his head to the side thoughtfully.

"Snow White! I have dark hair, just like her. Sure, she's paler than me, but hey! I'm prettier than her, so it all works out!"

There is was. The Jackie I knew and the Jackie I had fallen in love with. As I watched her sit down next to Fez and begin to decide who looked like whom, I smiled slightly. The slightly weary Jackie I'd seen upstairs seemed to have vanished—much to my liking.

"So, Hyde," Eric said, finally looking up from his Darth Vader model as Donna sat down on the floor next to him. "You looking forward to this world of Disney?"

"Depends on sleeping arrangements," I confirmed with a shrug, looking over at Donna. "Who's rooming with who?"

"Well, I naturally assumed it was obvious. Me and Eric, Fez and Kelso, and you and Jackie."

Jackie looked up at me with a broad smile as Donna spoke before Kelso looked from Fez to Donna. "Hey Eric… wanna change roomies?" Kelso asked in a hopeful tone, grinning at Donna, who stood to swat him on the arm. She moved to sit on the dryer, swinging her legs to bang against the green hunk of metal.

Fez looked at Kelso with a large grin, clapping his hand. "Oh joy! I will get to room with you, Kelso!"

"Yeah… you get the floor," his roomy immediately ordered, nodding matter-of-factly. "Foreigners aren't allowed to sleep on the beds in the hotel, Fez."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Oh. Okay. I'll be sure and bring my sleeping bag," Fez decided with a nod. I couldn't help but smile in pure amusement at how gullible Fez was. Made my life quite amusing, and that's all that matters. Definitely.

Jackie stood and made her way from Fez to me, once again depositing her tiny body on my lap, my arm instinctively snaking around to encircle her waist. "When are we going, Donna?" she asked, arching a perfectly waxed eyebrow.

"A week."

"A week!" Jackie shrieked, her eyes widening in horror. "Donna, that's cutting it a bit close, don't you think? I mean, now I have to pick out my three most amazing bikinis, the cutest tank-tops and the most adorable skirts from my wonderfully diverse wardrobe in seven days!"

"Six," Donna corrected with a nod and a small chuckle.

"Six! Well, this certainly complicates things, you insensitive lumberjack," Jackie huffed, frowning in an almost cute-like pouty way. "At least this gives me an excuse to go to the mall."

I thought I might let out an incredibly relieved breath as Jackie spoke of going to the mall—after all, she'd turned down my offers to take her earlier that week—until I looked up at her and into her doe-brown eyes. They were strained and tired, and almost immediately, I could tell the whole thing was a charade. She had to keep up her impeccable reputation as being almost unbearably perky and bright so no one would suspect anything was wrong with her.

I frowned at her, my eyes narrowing behind my sunglasses. As she risked a glance at me, she smiled slightly to everyone in the room before shooting a significant look in my direction. I knew she didn't want anyone to know—probably for the reasons Mrs. Forman had told me earlier than evening. Because she was pride-ridden.

Well, at least I could look forward to evenings in a hotel room with just Jackie. God knows every time we were in a hotel it was like hurricane season—and a hotel room in the "happiest place on Earth" would be a wonderful place for the infamous circle.

If I was sneaky enough to get my stash onto the plane.

**Author's Note: Disney World for the gang! Hehe, I am sooo putting Hyde in those amazingly cool Mickey Mouse ears.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Okay… now, you all be good. And Eric, Steven—here's a bag of condoms…" Mrs. Forman said, ending with one of her nervous laughs as she held out a brown paper bag.

"Mom!" Eric burst, staring at his mother like she belonged in an insane asylum. Kelso grinned from Mrs. Forman to Eric.

"Hey Forman, at least she's accepted that you are so gunna do it with Donna," he said with a matter-of-fact nod, beaming now as he looked once again from Eric to Mrs. Forman. He groaned angrily at Eric as the scrawny boy kicked him hard in the shin, frowning.

I grabbed the bag with a grin as I watched Jackie and Donna roll their eyes before bending over to reach for their small carry-on bags (Or rather, _Donna_ leaned over for her small carry-on. Jackie's "small" carry-on was the size of Texas).

Jackie picked a bad day to wear one of her lower cut tops.

As she bent over, Fez looked over at the bust area, his mouth gaping open in awe. Jackie immediately clamped her arms over her chest with a squeal before darting behind me with a highly non-amused look at Fez. I reached up a hand to knock Fez in the back of the head before bending over to pick up Jackie's bag for her.

"Perv," Jackie accused with a silly frown before she looked over at Mrs. Forman.

"Don't forget your pills, Jackie," Mrs. Forman told her with a smile, handing her a small bottle from a pocket in her apron.

"Aha! I know what those are for!" Eric exclaimed, watching Jackie place the bottle in her purse without hesitation.

A look of shock and pain passed Jackie's face as her head swung up as soon as Mrs. Forman left the kitchen with a small wave in Eric's direction. Lately, she hadn't been one for long goodbyes. By the strange look on Jackie's face and in her eyes, I could tell she hadn't told anyone yet. "You do?" she asked, attempting to sound calm and collected. My little 97 pound package of Zen.

"Yup. Birth control," he said with a nod. "I guess you and Hyde wanted extra protection because you couldn't keep your hands off each other!"

The immense look and sigh of relief on Jackie's part went undetected by the other guys in the room—but I was almost positive Donna could tell something was up… and would be determined to find out what it was.

"Yup. You're right, Eric," Jackie said with an innocent smile. Looking at Donna, she frowned thoughtfully. "Should we leave now?"

Donna stared at Jackie for awhile, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Yeah, I guess so. You guys go ahead and start loading up Kelso's van, I wanna stay and talk to Jackie for a minute."

Jackie instinctively inched closer to me, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders slowly. Donna looked at me disapprovingly at me before shrugging and focusing on Jackie.

"So what are those pills for?"

"Birth control, just like Eric said," Jackie told her casually, momentarily pretending to be completely interested in the fingernails of her right hand. A flat-out lie.

"Jackie, I know you. You've with this stuff before," Donna said slowly, clearly not convinced.

"Well, Steven and I have gotten—"

Jackie was cut off by a groan and a head shake from Donna. "Yeah, I don't care about you and Hyde's sex life. But there's something you aren't telling me, and I'll find out what it is."

"Donna, would I hide anything from you?" Jackie asked innocently, tilting her head to the side in an almost cute kind of way.

"Uh, yeah," Donna said in a 'no-duh' tone as she placed her hands on her hips. Surveying Jackie, she shook her head in defeat. "Okay… whatever."

With that, she turned with a shrug to walk through the door and towards Kelso's van, her bags in hand. I let go of Jackie, staring at her in disbelief.

"You have to _at least_ tell Donna," I said simply, still staring.

"I will… eventually. When the time is right," she told me with a firm nod.

I grabbed her by the arms, staring firmly at her. "_Tell her_. She's worried about you. _I'm_ worried about you."

Glaring at me, she managed to wriggle out of my grasp, frowning at me now. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine… really."

Turning, she walked through the open door to leave me standing. I wanted to believe her—I really did. I wanted desperately for her to be okay. But the little voice in the back of my head told me to prepare for the worst.

Note to self: Shove the little voice off a god damned cliff

**Author's Note: Thank you all for the comments! I love you all to pieces.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Flight F2 to Orlando, Florida will begin boarding momentarily. Flight F2 will begin boarding momentarily."

Jackie's head was resting lightly on my shoulder, her eyes closed in sleep. I reached up a hand to brush hair from her eyes before shaking her awake gently and watching her yawn loudly.

"Wake up, sleepy head!" Fez told her, grinning stupidly as Jackie stirred with a giggle in the foreigner's direction.

He had ice cream all over the edges of his mouth, and a chocolate smear on his cheek. He looked like he was six. Jackie leaned forward to wipe it all off with her handkerchief that she'd withdrawn from her small purse as I stood, reaching down for Jackie's carry-on bag.

"Flight F2 to Orlando, Florida may begin boarding. Flight F2 may begin boarding."

"That's us!" Jackie squealed, immediately leaping up, though she winced in pain as she did so. She'd often told me how her chest always felt like it would burst and her legs would buckle—I don't know how the hell she planned to survive this trip.

A bouncing up and down Fez joined a bouncing up and down Kelso near the gate, resembling over-excited ten year olds. Donna and Eric joined them, calmly and firmly telling them that if they wanted to survive the plane ride, they had to settle down. Donna and Eric… the parents of the group. Yay. (Note sarcasm)

Jackie and I followed the others into the plane, Jackie sniffing in disdain and disgust. "This smell is making my head throb," she told me with a frown. As we all searched slowly for our seat numbers, Jackie seemed to walk extremely slow. At one point, I felt her grip my arm firmly, and I turned around just in time to watch her legs crumble beneath her. She quickly regained her balance, telling the others she'd merely tripped.

Another lie.

There had been much seat switching amongst ourselves (seeing as Kelso and Fez had wanted to sit with two rather busty blonds where Donna and Eric were supposed to sit) and much whining on Fez's part about being completely ignored by his blond. I'd allowed Jackie the window seat—even though I really didn't like being in the aisle... too many little kids darting back and forth—and that seemed to cheer her up. That and the fact that Eric seemed to be completely hyperventilating over flying definitely perked her up. Apparently, the scrawny kid didn't like heights too much. Who would've thought?

Of course, as soon as the plane started moving, I slowly figured out that I myself don't enjoy the disgusting sensation of flying in an unstable piece of metal. As the plane tilted upwards to take off, my eyes widened as I looked over at Jackie, who was busy simply reapplying lip gloss in her small pocket mirror. How the hell was it that she felt safe in this thing? I quickly looked down and attempted to look calm and collected as I felt Jackie's gaze fall on me. She reached a small hand over to cover the hand that I had gripping the armrest, and smiled softly at me before slowly turning her head to gaze out the window. My stomach lurched as the plane dove into the air, nose first, and I felt her eyes on me as her hand tightened its grip on mine. The plane soon leveled out, and my insides slowly untwisted, and I almost groaned for showing any signs of weakness in front of Jackie—after all, I'm Steven Hyde. I'm not supposed to be afraid of flying. That's Eric's job.

Jackie and I sat in silence for a few minutes as she stared out the window, apparently amazed at how small everything looked from the airplane.

"Hello sir—would you like anything to drink?"

The voice of a stewardess standing next to me with a cart forced me back to reality as I frowned over at her. "You got beer?" I asked her gruffly, ignoring a groan from Jackie.

The woman eyed me curiously for a moment before nodding slowly, pointing towards their cans of beer on the lower shelf of the cart. At my nod, she unscrewed the top of a beer before pouring it into a small plastic cup and handing it to me. "And for you, ma'am?" she asked, her eyes now drifting from me to Jackie.

"I'll just have water with lemon, please," she said politely, and I could tell she'd worked hard to rip her eyes from the soda she'd spotted on the cart. I'd noticed her that she had been cutting back on sugar lately—something that would be incredibly hard for her. She smiled sweetly as the stewardess passed her the water and slowly moved on to Donna and Eric.

Surprisingly, Jackie was quiet the majority of the plane ride—something that was slightly unnerving for me. She slept most of the way, her head usually resting on my shoulder or on the pillow she'd hounded the stewardess for. While she slept, I was left to look over at Donna and Eric to listen in on their conversations… which usually involved what rides they were going to ride and Eric asking Donna if Star Wars was Disney World related.

"We will be landing at the Orlando, Florida airport in a few minutes. We now ask that you please fasten your seatbelts and turn any electrical equipment off."

Jackie's eyes snapped open as the loudspeaker sounded, and, with a yawn and a stretch of her tiny arms, she smiled faintly at me. Looking out the window, her eyes widened in excitement and she moved her hand to grip my arm. "Look, Steven! Look, isn't it pretty?" she asked me all in one breath, looking from the window to me.

I nodded slowly before straightening my sunglasses on my face as the speaker clicked on again.

"We hope you enjoyed your flight, and thank you for flying with us today. Be sure that you stay seated and buckled until the plane comes to a complete stop and the seat belt sign turns off. Make sure that all items and bags are taken from the plane, and make sure to claim your baggage at the baggage claim. Have a nice day!"

My stomach lurched once more as the plane dove towards the ground and skidded on the track, grasping Jackie's hand, my eyes hidden behind my glasses. Those sunglasses have saved my ass so many times I've lost count.

Jackie shot up out of her seat as soon as the seat belt sign clicked off, leaning over to pick up her bag as I too stood, stretching with a loud yawn.

"Was it just my imagination—or were you scared?" Eric immediately asked as soon as Donna, Eric, Jackie and I made it into the rather cramped aisle way.

"Shut up, Forman," I told him through narrowed eyes and reaching hand over Donna's shoulder to smack the back of his head.

"Hey!" he shouted, rubbing the back of his head. "That's not fair."

"Oh really... I don't want to have to put up with this all week, you two," Donna told us in exasperation, poking Eric in the back to keep him moving as she neared the exit of the plane. Fez and Kelso were still in the back of the plane, having waited too long to smash through the crowd. That made me laugh.

As we reached the gate, Eric began looking around, clearly in awe. Looked as though the poor kid had never been in an airport before—which I was positive he had. "This airport is HUGE!" he burst, sounding so much like Fez as he spoke that I wanted to smack him. One Fez was more than enough. Definitely more than enough.

Jackie suddenly stumbled as we walked, gripping the back of my shirt for support, once again mumbling she'd tripped over luggage to a curious Donna and a bewildered Eric. Once again, I could tell Donna knew Jackie was lying, but Eric was none the wiser. Stupid little teenager.

"Aha! We have finally found you!"

As Jackie and I turned, we saw Fez and Kelso darting towards us, looking extremely glad that they'd finally exited the plane.

"You would never believe the largeness of the people in front of us. They were like Rhonda… times 10!" Fez continued, Kelso nodding excitedly. "I wanted to poke the woman's belly, but Kelso said she'd probably bite me, so I decided I'd like to keep my hand." Fez's comment was greeted by stunned silence and wide-eyed friends before we all shook our heads in amusement and turned.

"Okay, well, we have to go pick up our bags—and then go catch a bus. It said in the packet I got with the tickets that there were buses out front that could take us to our hotel," Donna explained, beginning to walk in the direction of the F2 baggage claim, Eric trailing along like a puppy behind her.

I wrapped my arm around Jackie's shoulder to slow her, so that the two of us were walking slightly behind the others. "Jacks, Donna knows something's up. You're legs have collapsed on you twice, and she's witnessed it both times. Why won't you just tell her?"

"And ruin the trip? Steven, if I told everyone—or even just Donna—the trip would be ruined. They wouldn't think I'd be able to walk around as fast as everyone, and then they'd slow down because of me. That would ruin everything, Steven. I'll… tell them after the trip," she told me, her voice quiet, in case they happened to overhear.

"Jackie, you and I both know you might not be able to survive doing as much walking as we'll be doing. I'll carry you, and you know that, but they're going to figure it out when I start carrying you around in my arms and on my back for half the day," I protested, squeezing her shoulders gently. "What's the worst that could happen if you tell them?"

"I just can't, Steven! You don't understand!"

"Because you won't _let_ me understand! Damn, Jackie! I've been trying to understand why the hell you're keeping as big a deal as something like this from your friends—especially Donna—and you aren't helping! Just _tell_ them!"

"I _can't_, Steven! I can't! Please, try to understand!"

Her lower lip had begun to tremble and her eyes were slowly filling with salty tears, and I immediately shut my mouth. I hated seeing Jackie cry, and I wasn't about to make her cry over something as stupid as this argument. "Okay. Okay. But… just promise me that you'll tell them after the trip, if not during."

"I promise."

Liar.

**Author's Note: Sorry it took longer than usual... hehe, I wanted it to be good. Thank you for the reviews- you guys are so sweet! I hope you like the chapter.. be sure to tell me if I'm getting anywhere near out of character with any of the characters.**


	5. Chapter 5

"Jackie, I'm going to talk and you're going to listen."

Jackie's head swung around to the doorway of our hotel room as Donna's firm voice sounded throughout the room, and I arched an eyebrow curiously at her forwardness—but of course, that's Donna for you. "What is there to talk about?" Jackie asked smoothly, gazing innocently at Donna for a few seconds before switching her gaze to the large suitcases she'd piled on the queen sized bed.

"No—you don't talk, you listen." Donna stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her. There was no escaping that could be done on Jackie's part—Donna had her cornered and the petite brunette knew it. She simply gazed in silent submission as her red-headed friend neared. "Jackie, I've watched you. You've fallen twice, you slept the whole plane ride and hardly talked, and you didn't even demand that you have the plane's finest wine given to you. Something's wrong, and you're going to tell me."

Jackie frowned, chewing anxiously on her lower lip as she moved away from Donna and towards me, attempting to half-hide behind me, but I folded my arms over my chest slowly. I stepped a bit to the right of her, glaring at her irritably. "Jacks…"

She'd lost. She knew it. She'd lost this battle, and she knew full well she'd have to tell Donna herself or I'd tell her. Donna was too smart for Jackie to keep her little charade up.

"Alright, fine. You want to know? You want to know what's wrong? I'm sick, Donna. Really sick." Jackie gazed steadily at her friend—my little spitfire. Her arms crossed over her chest, and her lower lip was jutted out in something between a pout and a desperate frown as she looked from Donna to me. "You happy now?"

Donna seemed to have been stunned to silence, and she simply stared at Jackie. "Sick? Like, strep throat sick or…?"

"No, Donna. Really sick. Like, cancer sick."

Staring blankly at her friend, Donna's breath caught in her chest sharply, biting down on her lower lip. "What kind?"

"Breast cancer," the petite girl said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. I knew just how hard it was to admit something was wrong with her—this was Jackie we're talking about. She's the materialistic one… the one absorbed in looks, happy endings and stuffed animals in the form of unicorns… remember? Yeah, the ditz. That's Jackie. This serious side of her was a side people didn't normally see—and by the looks of it, Donna blamed the sudden mood change on the illness (so did I).

As Donna's jaw dropped to the ground, her arms slowly opened up to envelope a near-tears Jackie in a comforting hug—suddenly, I felt oddly out of place.

"Don't worry Jackie; you'll get better," she said quietly, rubbing her left hand in small circles on Jackie's back.

"Of course I will, Donna! Someone as gorgeous as me has to get better. The world would end if I left it—we all know that!" Jackie said in exasperation, looking at Donna as though she was stupid. This as least, was a step towards the old, more materialistic Jackie that we'd all grown so accustomed to.

"When you are gunna tell everyone else?"

"Me? Tell them? And ruin the trip?" Breaking the hug, Jackie took a step back from Donna. "Donna, I can't do that. Besides… if I tell them, Fez'll just want to cart me around everywhere, and I can't have a foreigner carrying me—wait.. actually, that sounds like a good idea.. my own personal foreign slave!"

"Jackie, that's illegal," Donna said with an eye roll and a highly amused smile as she sighed heavily at her petite friend.

"Yeah, well… so? Someone as gorgeous as me can't be locked up in jail! That's Steven's job. Besides, I bring an incredibly bright sparkle to your stupidly gray, dull lives."

I was suddenly incredibly alert, and my eyes narrowed as I reached out a hand to shove Jackie's shoulder. "Watch it. Just because you're sick doesn't mean you get to pick on me."

"Of course it does, Steven. Read the manual."

Shoving her shoulder again, she giggled, curling up against me once I sat down on the bed. My arm wrapped around her shoulders as I shot a look at Donna—a "leave now" look. She scowled irritably at me before she quickly darted out of the room once I leaned over to kiss Jackie (Donna was never one to enjoy watching the two of us kiss… that was Fez – the perv).

I drew back as soon as Donna left, looking at Jackie with the tiniest of smiles. "That wasn't so hard, was it? You could at least tell Foreman, you know. Everyone says he's the wimpy, understanding type."

Jackie shoved my shoulder, much like I had done to her earlier, as she laughed quietly. She stared at me for a few silent moments before her head dropped to rest on my shoulder. "Eric? Understanding? Steven, he's done nothing but be rude to me ever since I first joined this lame little group of yours." Jutting her lower lip out in a pout, she let out a loud huff. "He even let Rhonda get a key to the basement before I did."

"Yeah, well… nobody wanted you to have a key, Jacks. You're really annoying—but you're like a drug. You're freakishly addicting," I said slowly, shrugging despite the squeal she let out as my shoulder slammed against her head as I did so.

"Hey… you're not supposed to say things like that to your hot girlfriend that you usually wouldn't have a chance with. Read the freaking manual, Steven." Smiling as she lifted her head, she blinked wearily before scooting back to lie down on the bed. I followed suit, lying down next to her, my arm around her waist. Her face was buried in my chest, and almost immediately, her breathing slowed. I closed my eyes, thinking she was asleep as I tightened the arm that was around her waist.

"You know I'm putting you in Mickey Mouse ears, right?"

Aww, shit.

**Author's Note:** So sorry it took so long- I've been bogged down with homework. I hope you like it so far, and thank you to my wonderful reviewers!


	6. Chapter 6

"Steven! Wake up, Steven!"

I was vaguely aware of an annoyingly high voice buzzing around my ear, and, in an attempt to make it stop, I flung my hand upwards towards the source of the noise. As my hand collided with something, I groaned cautiously. Crap.

"Steven! That _hurt_ you idiot! Oh, wake up!"

As soon as a felt a slap on my right shoulder, I groggily opened my eyes to see a very demanding looking Jackie towering over me. Her hands were placed on her hips and her usually smiling lips were pressed together in a very mother-like thin line, and I was vaguely remembered of Red during one of his "my foot will be up your ass in seconds" moods. "Jacks, c'mon. I'm tired. Can't we just like, go later?"

"No, Steven. I let you sleep as late as I could possibly stand – we only have a few minutes. Everyone else is ready." Shaking her head as she turned her back to me, I heard her snort and mutter, "I suppose that's what being poor does to you". That was Jackie, all right. As she sat down on the small couch that was located in a corner of the room, she glared at me, pointing a demanding finger towards the bathroom. The clothes that Jackie had laid out for me hung from the pegs on the bathroom door, and I shook my head in amusement. That was just like Jackie – to pick out my clothes for me. Defeated, I slipped into the bathroom.

I opened the door a little upon hearing an odd chocking noise from Jackie, pulling on my jeans as I did so. As soon as I saw her, I knew the way she'd been acting recently was all a difficult charade for her – she looked so… fragile. She had a hand pressed against her chest, her eyes squeezed tightly shut; I saw a small tear race down her left cheek. The hand that wasn't pressed against her chest was balled into a small fist, and her legs were desperately pressing against the couch in an attempt to make all the pain she held to go away. I couldn't watch her like this.

Opening the door after I threw on my t-shirt, I walked over to Jackie quietly; she couldn't see me because her eyes were closed. As soon as I kneeled down in front of her, however, her eyes snapped open.

"Steven! I thought you were changing!"

I nodded slowly, avoiding the comment. "I was. But I'm changed now." Surveying her with a small shake of my head, I sighed. "Jackie, are you going to be able to come today?"

Nodding her head vigorously, she immediately attempted to banish any sign of pain from her face. "Of course, Steven! I just… haven't taken my medication this morning. That's why you… uhm… saw me the way you did. I'm fine, okay? Don't worry." She stood, easily walking around me and towards the bureau, where her bottle of pills was located. Shaking one of the oval shaped pills out, she walked into the bathroom to fill a paper cup with water. I watched her tip her head backwards, place the pill in the back of her mouth and quickly swallow the water, her eyes squeezed shut - she was always afraid she'd choke on pills.

Exhaling slowly, she turned back towards me, plastering the trademark Jackie Burkhart smile on her face. "Okay… we can go now. I'm sure Fez'll be jumping up and down outside our door, about ready to pound it down." As she walked over to examine herself in the mirror, I walked towards the door, my hand reaching for the knob. Much to my amusement and to Jackie's surprise, a bouncing up and down Fez stood outside the door.

"Come _on,_ you two lovebirds! We're all ready to _gooo!_"

The childish and impatient air to his voice as he thrust a tootsie roll into his mouth made me want to hit him upside the head, but I managed to restrain myself. After all, someone had to give Jackie those coveted piggy-back rides that I hated. Turning back to Jackie, I rolled my eyes. "Jackie, you don't know anyone here. The ride managers _aren't going to care_ if your earrings accent your shoes."

"Steven!" she gasped, her doe-brown eyes widening as she quickly latched the diamond studs onto her ears. "How can you say that!" Shaking her head in pure disbelief, she began walking towards me, shoving my shoulder with a sigh. "Okay, let's go. I want to get there really quick before Steven decides he doesn't want to wear the Mickey Mouse ears," she explained to Fez, her voice dropping to just above a whisper as she grabbed my arm and started pulling me away towards the stairs before I could protest.

"Jackie… I never wanted—"

"Yes, you did."

"No I— ow!" Scowling down at her as she reached up a hand to deal out one of the infamous Jackie Burkhart pinches, I rolled my eyes. She certainly was my small, 95 pound of temper.

"Will you two stop this stupid little fight? It's just Mouse ears – and we all know that deep down, Hyde desperately wants to take a picture with those Mouse ears. SO," Fez continued, raising his voice to drown out my protest, earning him irritated glares from some women who were passing, "let's get a move on, people! Kelso, Donna and Eric are waiting outside. See? See? Right there!" With that, the foreigner ran off, eagerly dashing towards an equally excited Kelso, both talking in anxious twittering.

I watched Jackie closely as she grabbed my hand, staring silently at the back of Eric's head. I could easily tell that she was debating whether or not to tell the scrawny kid; obviously, my words hadn't gone in one ear and out the other as they normally did. I watched as she bit her lip for a few fleeting moments, and I gently gave her hand a squeeze before I began to speed up. I wasn't one to lag behind the rest of the group. Of course, I instantly regretted doing so, because it meant that now I had to put up with listening to Kelso and Fez whispering about which Disney Princesses they wanted to feel up (Fez had placed dibs on Snow White and Kelso had called Cinderella).

"Oh look, Steven! They have a fountain!" Jackie exclaimed, tugging on my arm as we exited the hotel, beginning to walk towards the park.

I raised an eyebrow in a 'Yeah, stupid' attitude, wrinkling my nose in surprise. "Jackie, that fountain was there when we checked in."

Considering this for a moment, she swung her head around to stick her tongue out at me momentarily, with a soft 'Hmph'. "I know that. I just… didn't say anything until now."

"Suuuure."

"Ahhh!" Fez exclaimed, clapping his hands in delight as we made our way off of the hotel property. "I think I see the tip-top of Cinderella's castle!"

"Dude, I'll bet there's like… fifty beds in that castle. That gives me fifty opportunities to do it with the princess… and Jackie!"

Walking closer to Kelso, I swung my foot out to firmly kick him in the shins, glaring at him angrily. "Shut up, Kelso." Glancing over at the unusually silent Donna, I watched in irritation as she stared at Jackie with a mingled look of pity and disbelief. I shot Donna a look before placing a protective arm around Jackie's shoulder and steering her towards the front of the group, my eyes glued on the highest tier of Cinderella's castle.

Seven minutes and twenty-five tootsie rolls later, we all stood in front of the castle; Jackie staring up at it in wonder, Donna looked rather disinterested, Eric staring at random passerby, Kelso messing with his hair, Fez continuing to eat the rather large bag of candy he'd insisted in bringing along… and then there was me. I found the whole cutesy-princess thing overrated, and therefore began to tug Jackie away from the entrance, not wishing to enter the castle and meet Cinderella herself. However, I was overruled as Jackie, Kelso and Fez began to pull me towards the entrance (Jackie was desperate to figure out how she achieved that hairstyle, Kelso wanted to see if it was harder to seduce Disney princesses as opposed to regular women, and Fez was hoping for a chance to look down her dress or up her skirt), followed by Donna and Eric, both of whom were on the verge of excitement and utter boredom.

I had been hoping to simply walk in, watch those three idiots (well… two idiots. Jackie isn't an idiot – she's simply incredibly self-absorbed) chatter away with the fake-Cinderella and leave. I ended up waiting in line behind a bunch of stupid little kids holding Jackie's hand – which, in reality, shouldn't be that bad, but she went on and on about how ugly Cinderella's dress was… which just made me want to tape her mouth shut with the strongest duct tape they sold.

I quickly realized as we reached the throne and began to tune out Jackie's reprimanding of the blond who was impersonating Cinderella that this was NOT going to be as much fun as Fez made it out to be. Happiest place on earth my ass.


	7. Chapter 7

"Come on, Steven! This is going to be fun!"

If you call sitting on a plastic horse that spins around in a circle and moves up and down – something that toddlers take much pleasure in – while your girlfriend eagerly snaps pictures of you fun, then yes, this was going to be fun.

"Come on! We've got to beat those idiots to those pink and purple ones!"

"Jackie, those 'idiots' look like they're about five. Let them have the stupid horses."

"No! I need the pink one, Steven!" With that, she sped up - dragging me along behind her – in time to cut off the younger kids and swung up onto the horse. I stood next to her, staring at her like she was crazy, as she pointed her thin finger towards the white horse with lots of purple flowers painted on it that was positioned next to her, and I shook my head. "Yes, Steven. Get on the horse. Get. On. The. Horse."

With an icy glare at her, I obligingly swung my leg up over the horse and positioned myself as comfortable as one could possibly get on the hard plastic of the horse before looking over at Jackie. She was sitting with both legs on one side – side saddle, she explained to me afterwards – as she reached out her hands to grab the faux leather reins that were latched to the horse's mouth. She looked positively delighted as she used one hand to dig out the camera she'd shoved into her purse earlier that morning and, with a large smile, put the camera up to her face.

"Smile!"

Needless to say, I didn't procure a smile – it was more of an irritated scowl. And needless to say, my 5'3" bundle of temper was rather angry. "Steven, I said smile. Now smile, god dammit!" I groaned and gripped the gold pole that was poking through the horse's neck, attempting to calm myself, before I mustered the best smile I could. As soon as the flash went off, however, the smile was gone and the usual scowl was back in place. As the carousel began to move, my eyes scanned the crowd that had bunched at the exit, and I narrowed my eyes. Forman and Donna were the only two that had sat this one out (Fez was simply delighted to ride and had shoved many of the younger kids out of the way to get to the horse that was covered in armor, and Kelso had grinned stupidly as he scrambled up on top of a rather large black horse before sticking his tongue out at the kid he had been racing to get to it), and Forman looked like he couldn't stop laughing; Donna was taking pictures of the four of us in obvious amusement.

I was overjoyed when the carousel came to a stop, and eagerly leapt from the horse's back before walking slowly over to help Jackie off hers. As we met up with the others at the exit, I raised an eyebrow at Fez's upset reaction to the fact that we weren't riding it again, and was – much like a kid who looked to be about three who was a few feet away from us – stomping his feet and wrinkling his nose.

"Oh. My. Gawd. We have got the ride that ride!" Jackie came close to jumping up and down as she pointed eagerly at a sign above a rather long line that read 'It's a Small World'. As we began to slowly approach it, cutesy music could be heard and I immediately became rather wary of even setting foot in the line. Per usual, Fez, Kelso and Jackie seemed to be completely ecstatic as they dragged Forman, Donna and myself into the line. "Oh, Steven! Aren't those boats so cute?"

"Sure. Cute. Yeah, that's it," I said off-handedly, watching her occasionally glance over at Forman. I could tell she was debating whether or not she wanted to tell him, and I leaned over so I could talk into her ear. "Jacks, talk to Forman. He's the unmanly, sympathetic type. He'll understand – just like Donna."

I anticipated a sharp retort from her, but she simply stared at me for a moment before moving to take hold of Forman's arm. "You guys just like, hold our place or something. Steven and I want to talk to Eric." With that, she began to half-drag Forman out of line and in front of the entrance as I trailed along behind them casually.

"Alright, Jackie – what's this all about? You never want to talk to me. You hate me, remember?" Forman raised an eyebrow expectantly at her as she shuffled her feet nervously before taking a deep breath.

"So Donna hasn't told you?" she asked, taking great pains to make sure her voice didn't sound shaky in the slightest.

"Tell me what? Hyde, what's this about?" Looking at me, now quite anxious, he frowned from Jackie to me.

"Just… listen to her, man. Go on, Jacks. Tell him." Nudging her arm with mine, I looked expectantly at the former cheerleader, attempting to look reassuring.

"Eric, I… I'm really sick."

It was the same approach she'd taken with Donna, and I was sure she'd expected him to say the same thing as Donna. However, Forman simply nodded slowly, still obviously not comprehending.

"Cancer sick."

"O-oh. Oh man, Jackie. Why the hell are you down here?" Forman asked incredulously, gaping at her like she was an idiot – and we all know how much Jackie loves that.

"Because I wasn't about to ruin what is going to be an amazing trip just because I'm a little sick, Eric."

"A little sick? Jackie, cancer isn't little!" he replied, eyes wide in shock as he continued to gape at her.

"You don't think I know that? Look, Eric, I'm just... I'm really scared. I think I'd rather look at this as something insignificant instead of something life-threatening."

Forman looked incredibly taken aback as he watched the tears gather in her eyes, and he hesitantly took a step towards her. Cautiously, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug, and he looked extremely surprised to feel her arms wrap around his waist. However, he didn't pull back, but simply continued to hug her gently. "It'll be alright, Jackie. I promise." Forman's comment seemed to jerk Jackie back to reality as she drew back from the hug. Looking like she wanted to kick herself for displaying signs of weakness, she patted Forman's arm gratefully.

"Thank you, Eric." Slowly, she turned around to head back towards the other four, Forman and I following. As we reached them, I watched Donna throw Forman a knowing look, while Jackie leaned against the railing. At this point, she was good at hiding her need to lean against things or grasp things whenever she was standing. Her small hand was gripping the railing so tightly that her knuckles were white, but she managed to position her purse so that unless you looked closely, you couldn't tell. It scared me that she had to do something like that, but I couldn't help but admire her for the few complaints she'd issued.

"Ooh, this looks so cute!" she squealed, quickly scrambling into the boat, dragging me in after her. She took my hand as Kelso scooted in after me, forcing Fez to join Eric and Donna in front. The boat lurched into motion and we went through a small tunnel, Fez's eyes wide with excitement.

The music made me want to hurl.

Fez seemed to be incredibly wrapped up in watching the dolls that were dressed exotically as they sang and danced, and he quickly picked up the song. "It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small, small world!" he sang brightly, though he was rather off-key throughout.

"Fez man, shut up. I don't like the song – I don't need you singing it too."

Jackie rested her head on my shoulder wearily, and I looked down at her hesitantly. "You too tired to keep going? I can take you back to the room; I don't want to be here anyway." I anticipated a shocked 'And miss all this? No way, Steven!', and was surprised at her weak, "Yes please."

Kelso glanced over at Jackie questioningly, looking confused. "Wait, so you're not staying? But it'll be too hard for me to be the only good-looking one if you leave! What, are you too chicken to ride any of the rides?"

"No, Michael," Jackie said irritably, "I'm just tired."

I was grateful as we neared the end of the ride; a) because I wanted to get Jackie back and b) because Fez hadn't stopped singing along, despite many protests.

"It's a little slippery, so watch your step. The exit's that way and we hope you have a wonderful day!" the worker chirped, pointing to the left.

Jackie gripped my arm tightly as she got out of the boat and made her way towards the exit, though loosned it as we reachedc non-slippery ground. "Jackie and I are going to go ahead and head back," I announced, wrapping my arm around her shoulders as she offered a small wave to the others as we turned to leave.

"We'll be back in a little bit," Forman called after us and I nodded. As soon as we were near Cinderella's castle again, Jackie finally spoke.

"Thanks, Steven."

"For what?"

"For taking me back."

"Yeah, well.. I wasn't exactly thrilled to ride any of these kiddy rides."

Silence fell again and the two of us were quiet the rest of the way back to the hotel. I fished the key to our room out of my pocket and Jackie immediately made her way towards my suitcase, sifting through some of my t-shirts. She grabbed one of my Zepplins and then moved to take out a pair of her cotton pajama bottoms from her own suitcase.

Tossing her chosen pajamas on the bed, she reached up to begin unbuttoning her top. I snuck a peek at her as she discarded the top, and was rather shocked at the change. There was no denying she had always been skinny, but she was skinny enough that I could see the vague outline of ribs. As she tossed my shirt over her head and yanked off her skirt, I sat down next to her on the bed as she pulled her hair back in a ponytail.

"It's good that Forman knows."

She looked back at me with a tiny smile. "I guess you're right."

"Now there's just Kelso and Fez," I offered, reaching out to her as she began to scoot closer to me.

"I don't think I'm going to tell them," she told me slowly, now frowning almost thoughtfully up at the ceiling.

"Why? There's no use in telling Forman and Donna and then not telling Kelso and Fez."

"They'll try to make a joke out of it. Well, Michael might understand. But Fez rarely takes anything seriously."

She had a point there. I could count the number of times I'd seen a serious Fez on one hand. "But still… you'll have to tell them sooner or later. They may be dumb, but they'll realize something's up."

I didn't get an answer from her. She simply slipped under the covers, and I followed suit, wrapping my arms around her as her eyes slowly closed. "I love you, Steven. You don't have to say it back."

Gently, I kissed her forehead before her face buried up against my chest and her breathing slowed in sleep. I didn't doze off – it was still rather early – but simply held her as she slept, content with her in my arms. As I looked down at her, I realized just how frail-looking she had become, and I swore then and there that I wouldn't put up a fight should she decide to put me in those stupid mouse ears. I could bear it. Well, hopefully.

**Author's Note:** Ugh. Sorry for the sucky ending and the overall sucky chapter. I've been sick, so my brain at this point is resembling cream of wheat. Oh, and feel free to request like, things that you want to happen to the gang while at Disney - I'm up for ideas! Just not about the ending - I've already got that written out. :)


	8. Chapter 8

"Jackie," I said gruffly, reaching out a hand to shove her shoulder gently. "Jacks, wake up." For a moment, I was gripped by a sudden wave of fright – was she dead? As soon as I saw her chest rising and falling rhythmically, I exhaled in relief before taking a step back. "Well, this is different. Come on, Jackie. You're usually the one waking me up. Not the other way around." I bent over again to once again shove her shoulder, and in response, she stirred. However, she didn't get up, but simply threw a pillow at me and then buried her face in the second pillow.

"Get up. Now." Groaning with an eye roll, I made my way to the end of the bed. Slowly and gently, I lifted the covers off so that I could grab hold of her feet and, not gently, I tugged. With a shriek of surprise, she came tumbling off the bed, tangled in the blankets she had huddled under the previous night.

"Steven!" she cried, her brown eyes wide in irritation and shock. "I was going to get up eventually; you didn't yank me off."

Shrugging, I pointed to the bathroom, where I had set out an outfit for her – it was too late for her to stand around for forty-five minutes trying to come up with the perfectly coordinated outfit – and she, without protest, walked towards it and shut the door gently. It was odd to see her so submissive, but I shrugged my curiosity aside as I sat down on the end of the bed, glancing towards the bathroom.

"Steven?"

"Mhmm?"

"Could you bring me my beige wedges?" she called, not bothering to poke her head out of the door. "The shoes you picked out don't go well with the skirt."

Figures. "Whatever." Obediently, I stood and walked towards the area in the back corner where she'd lined up all her shoes – she'd brought practically her entire collection, which was incredibly amusing, seeing as we were only going to be here for a few days – and picked out the shoes she'd described. I opened the door and tossed the shoes in before once again taking my spot on the end of the bed. I stood, however, as I heard the doorknob jiggling, and walked over briskly.

"What do you want, Fez?" I asked, opening the door.

"Where's Jackie? Oooh, is she in the shower? May I go look?" Fez asked, his eyes suddenly wide as he attempted to take a step into the room, but was restrained by my arm.

"She'll be out in a minute." With that, I kicked him in the shin, causing him to narrow his eyes and mumble 'Oh, you son of a bitch' as he bent down to rub the offended area. "Kelso – what the hell?"

Kelso was standing up on tip-toe, his face pressed against the door to Donna and Eric's room. "Donna's naked, man." Fez immediately darted towards the door, roughly shoving Kelso out of the way and pressing his face against the peep hole, but recoiled with a horrified look.

"Ai!" he said pathetically, frowning. "So is Eric!"

Jackie came out of the bathroom as soon as I started laughing, and she raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"Fez saw Eric naked."

"That's what he gets for trying to spy on the lumberjack."

Passing me, she stood in front of the door to the room, and, noticing it was open a little bit, opened it without knocking. "Get some freaking clothes on, Eric!" she shrieked as she shielded her eyes, depositing herself on the end of their bed; Donna was in the bathroom.

"What the hell, Jackie? You can't just come in here!"

"It's not my fault the door was open."

I followed Jackie in and sat next to her, soon followed by rather eager looking Kelso and Fez. "Ooh, where's Donna?" Fez asked, inching towards the bathroom. However, as soon as he reached the door, it swung open to smack him rather hard in the face, sending him back a few steps. "Ai!" he cried, reaching up to touch his face gingerly.

Donna took one look at him and snorted in amusement before stopping abruptly. "Wait, what are you all doing in here?"

"Their cheerleading ring leader led them in here," Eric supplied, looking rather perturbed as he tugged a white and blue shirt over his head.

"Let's just goooo, man!" Kelso said, looking extremely impatient and bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "I want to get there before all the Mickey Mouse ears are gone," he continued, glancing at me with that grin that made me want to just punch his brains out.

"Ooh, you're right, Michael!" Jackie said excitedly, jumping up and tugging me up with her. "Steven promised he'd wear them."

"What? When did I say that?"

"Last night. You were sleeping and I said 'Are you going to wear the ears, Steven?' And you mumbled a yes!"

Crap. I really needed to learn to not fall asleep until I was positive that Jackie was asleep. "Jacks, that doesn't count," I said slowly as I took a look at her pleading face and turned to the entrance of the room. "Let's just go," I continued quickly, briskly walking through the door and into the hallway. I was trailed by Fez and Kelso, then Jackie – who muttered something about needing to get her purse and darting back into our room – and then Eric and Donna. As soon as Jackie reappeared, Fez and Kelso were off like rockets, almost tripping over a younger kid, causing Jackie and Donna's eyes to widen considerably.

Wrapping an arm around Jackie's shoulders, I glanced her over once, my gaze scrutinizing. "You don't look good. Did you get enough sleep?" It was a little weird to be talking like Mrs. Forman, but I was worried. It stunned me that I could even feel something like worry.

"I'm fine, Steven. Don't worry about me. Let's just have fun!"

"See, I would, but 'fun' for you usually means me having to do something I always regret within the next ten seconds," I pointed out, scowling down at her. Of course, I knew at this point that I wasn't going to put up a fight if she decided to get my picture taken with one of those ridiculous characters that seemed to have no lives but dress up as stupid Disney characters. Or at least, not much of a fight.

An hour and a bad incident with Fez and a bike later, we all stood in front of a shelf containing various stuffed animals and – shit – the dreaded Mickey Mouse ears. I groaned inwardly as Jackie plucked a large Mickey Mouse plush off the shelf, along with a pair of Mickey Mouse ears and a pair of Minnie Mouse ears. "Here, Steven," she said firmly, thrusting the ears at me. "Wear it."

"Jacks, seriously. I'm not wearing those. They're… kid-ish," I protested, pushing them back towards her. Kelso and Fez were snickering, and Eric and Donna were determinedly attempting to not pay attention. "Wait, no, Jackie, don't…" Her lower lip had begun to quiver, and I could see her eyelashes batting furiously as they held back the impending tears. She'd become more snappy and weepy lately, and I wasn't about to have her cry in the middle of a store. "Oh, shit. Give it." Taking a deep breath, I reached out to grab the ears from Jackie's shaking hands just as one of the tears rolled down her cheek. As soon as I did, the shaking and the tears vanished, to be replaced with the usual perkiness.

"See? That's not so bad, is it?" she asked excitedly, dragging me out onto the street. I chose not to respond as she began tugging me towards one of the photographers, clutching my arm tightly. "Alright. Steven, you have to smile or the picture'll look stupid."

I wasn't about to smile, no matter how hard she cried. No way in hell I could possibly smile when I had a pair of cheesy Mickey Mouse ears on my head while she clung to my arm with one arm, and had a Mickey Mouse plush the size of herself gripped in the other arm. I simply scowled at the photographer, who looked rather taken aback, but snapped the picture nonetheless. He handed Jackie a card that instructed her how to pick up the photo, and then he turned on his heel and was gone.

"See? Now, was that so bad?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, well… you just aren't any fun."

"Whatever."

"Oh, don't even start that Zen crap with me. Now, c'mon – Fez and Michael are already heading back towards Cinderella's castle. At least they're enthusiastic about this trip," she said, almost as though she were scolding me. I wasn't about to tell her that the only reason Kelso was going back was because he'd lured this Cinderella into his hotel room; I'd seen her sneak back out of it when I'd gotten up to refill the ice bucket a few hours before anyone else had woken up. She could find out for herself.

As the grip she had on my arm tightened considerably, I glanced down at her – she was rather pale in the face, her breathing a bit faster than usual as her legs momentarily gave way. "Jackie? You okay?" I asked, frowning down at her as she straightened again, momentarily burying her face in Mickey Mouse's head before shrugging.

"Yeah, fine. I just tripped over something is all," she said coolly, her eyes fixed on the castle we were nearing.

I knew she was lying. She'd become a complete expert at lying about her condition, and as I glanced at Kelso and Fez, who had slowed down so they could walk with us, I saw that they were looking at Jackie just as curiously as I was. I could tell they knew something was up – there hadn't been anything for Jackie to trip over.

Then and there, I decided that if Jackie wasn't going to tell them, I was. And if she wasn't going to get any more help than she was already getting, I was going to find more. No way in hell was I going to just let her sit there and suffer. No way in hell.

**Author's Note:** Here's to a bad chapter, 'eh? Seriously, I think I'm getting more and more ooc with these characters. Thanks for all my reviews - they certainly make me day. Again, feel free to offer ideas, I'm pretty much up for anything.


	9. Chapter 9

"Damn, Jackie! What was that for?"

I had been sleeping wonderfully – and having an extremely delightful dream to boot – and had not been planning on waking up anytime soon. However, apparently, Jackie had decided it was time for everyone to wake up. I had felt her shaking my shoulder and pinching my arm, but I had managed to ignore it. But then she had wrapped her small hands around my ankles like I had done to her yesterday, and yanked with all her might. I hadn't moved as far as she had the other day, but it did cause me to slip half-on and half-off the bed.

Shrugging with that innocent, "I'm the cutest thing in this world" smile she'd perfected over the years, she turned on her heel and pranced out of the room. Well, at least she was a bit more enthusiastic today. Standing up, I walked over to the dresser, intending on getting out the same thing I had worn yesterday… before I found what Jackie had set out for me to wear. "Jacks!" I yelled down the hall, scowling at her as she grinned at me from next to the ice machine. "Just because you wear those little dresses of yours does not mean I'm about to wear a dress shirt out to Disney World." Honestly. How many people have you seen in Disney World walking around in dress shirts? None, that's how many. None.

She simply grinned and shrugged again, before shrieking as Kelso enveloped her in a hug from behind. It was odd, even for Kelso, seeing as he'd managed to keep the majority of his body off of her since Jackie and I started dating. I glanced down the hallway towards his room, and saw Donna wringing her hands and looking slightly ashamed of something, and I raised an eyebrow at her. I looked back over at Kelso and Jackie (Kelso had refused to let go of Jackie, with his head buried in her shoulder and his arms wrapped tightly around her, while Jackie patted his back with a bewildered and confused look on her face) before walking down towards Donna.

"So. You told him?" I was certain there was some kind of amused tone in my voice, and Donna looked completely upset about the whole thing at this point.

"Jackie told me not to tell anyone, but, I mean… seriously. They can't just not know, y'know?" Continuing to wring her hands, she groaned as Kelso continued to refuse to let go of Jackie. "And I told him not to make it obvious that I told him and Fez – and look at him! He won't even let her breath!" With that, she retreated into her and Eric's room with another groan, and I couldn't help but chuckle. Was she honestly going to beat herself up over something this trivial? I would've done it myself sooner or later.

Jackie flashed a pleading look at me as she attempted to pry Kelso off of her, though only managed to get him to hold on tighter. Shaking my head with a sigh, I obediently walked over towards the ice machine, coming up behind Kelso. He was completely unaware that I was there, which made me all the more satisfied when he jumped about ten feet in the air when I slugged him in the arm. Jackie quickly darted around Kelso to envelope herself in my arm, grinning brightly as Kelso rubbed at his arm.

"Damnnn, Hyde! I was just being nice!" Wrinkling his nose and pouting like a three year old who's lollipop just fell on the ground, he stomped back down the hall, stopping at his door and turning to look back at us. Sticking his tongue out at me, he retreated into his room, slamming the door as he went.

Jackie just giggled, shaking her head in amusement before walking back towards the room. "We have soo much to do today, do you realize that? We've been here for, like, a few days already and I've only met Cinderella! I still need to see Sleeping Beauty and Alice and—" Her speech was cut off as I clamped my hand over her mouth, sighing heavily as I steered her back to the room. "Alright, that was mean," she said, narrowing her eyes at me as she swatted at my arm lightly.

As she sat down on the bed, I poked my head back out the door, finding the rest of our group gathering outside their rooms. Slowly, I walked over to Jackie and, before she could realize I was doing it, grabbed her waist and tossed her onto my shoulder, walking out of the room coolly.

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"Hmm? No, I'm fine. I think I'll sit this one out," she said, smiling brightly at us. "You all go ahead – I'll just sit down for a minute. I'll be fine. I'm pretty sure I can be alone for, what, under twenty minutes? I'm not like Michael."

"That's true," Eric said, shrugging over at a now-pouting Kelso before steering Donna off towards the line for 'Space Mountain'. Fez and Kelso soon followed, grinning widely at Jackie before their attention was diverted to two small, extremely busty blonds already waiting in line.

I was the only one who waited, hovering over her slightly as she began to shoo me away. "Jacks, I don't know…" I said, hesitating slightly as I watched her carefully, attempting to pick up any signs of weakness that would require me to stay behind with her. "I don't just want to leave you, y'know? I mean, there are lots of creepy perverts out there."

"If I can handle Fez, I can handle them. Honestly, I'll be fine. Just go ride the ride, okay?" Jutting out her lower lip in that puppy face that I had found hard to resist over the years, she patted my arm reassuringly.

"Fine. But only because you asked so nicely," I told her, leaning over and placing a kiss on the top of her head. Finally, I turned and left, allowing myself to slip into line with Kelso and the others. I looked back at Jackie, who was busying herself with going through the contents of her purse, looking just as perky as she had been that morning.

"I cannot believe you three sons of three bitches let me get on that ride!" Fez burst, reaching out a hand to punch Kelso, then Eric, then myself in the arm irritably.

I had opened my mouth to retort after rolling my eyes, but was cut off at the sudden sound of squealing and the crowding of people around a bench near the entrance. I heard a few girls whispering with wide eyes, and I saw a few men shaking their heads before walking away, and heard someone asking for everyone to clear some space. I pushed myself through the crowds, attempting to get a better look at what was going on.

As soon as I had caught a look, I wished I had just stayed on the ride.

Jackie was being cradled in the arms of a tall man, who was brushing the hair out of her eyes and placing his fingers on her neck. Her eyes were closed, and it definitely did not look like her chest was rising or falling. "God dammit, move it!" Shoving a few people out of the way, I made my way towards her, looking down at her anxiously. "What's wrong with her?"

The man looked up at me, attempting to see some kind of resemblance that would place me as a brother or cousin of some kind. He then glanced down at her, shaking his head grimly. "One minute she was sitting there all hyper and talking to someone, and the next minute she'd collapsed. We've called a doctor, and someone should be here momentarily to pick her up."

"Pick her up?" I asked, looking at him dumbly. "She's really bad then…" He seemed to register something in my voice that made him gently hand her over. As I enveloped her in my arms, and she simply sat there, looking limp and almost completely lifeless, I wanted to just crawl in a hole and never come out. She'd been perfectly fine this morning. What had happened? If I had just been here… if I hadn't gone on that stupid, stupid ride…

I looked up as the shriek of a girl rang out, and saw a stretcher approaching, accompanied by two men. Part of me wanted to refuse to let them take her away from me, but I knew that if she even wanted a chance at living, I had to let her go. They approached, and one of them leaned down to help me get her up on the stretcher. The other placed a mask over her face, and they quickly began wheeling her away, but made no protest when I started to follow them.

"It'll be okay Jacks, I promise…" I said quietly, brushing hair from her eyes as they continued wheeling her towards a car. They loaded her in, and one shook his head at me, refusing to allow me in the car. I desperately wanted to punch him to a pulp, but was restrained by Eric, who had trailed after me and Jackie (ever since Jackie had told him about her cancer, he'd been oddly protective of her. For example – on more than one occasion – when men would leer or whistle at her, it was Eric who would glare or trip them, not me). The doors closed, and they began to drive away, and I simply stood there. Feeling completely useless.

This day had gone all to hell. And now, Jackie was in a critical condition… and I couldn't help but feel that it was all my fault.

**Author's Note:** Alright. I'm real sorry for an update that is so many months overdue, and I hope you'll all forgive me. : However, this chapter was a bit sad, and I didn't enjoy writing the ending. But, it all ties in with what happens at the end. I have about two or three chapters left to go, and then this fanfic'll be all wrapped up.


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